Opportunities From: VolunteerME Southern Maine

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine is committed to providing strong and enduring, professionally supported 1 to 1 mentoring relationships that change children's lives for the better, forever.

Being a Big Brother or a Big Sister does not require any special skills. A volunteer is expected to become a friend and mentor to a child and is not expected to be a skilled counselor or social worker. Our volunteers are expected to make a minimum commitment of one year to the program.

During that year, Bigs in our Community-Based program need to share 3 to 5 hours of their time (at least every other week) with their assigned Little Brothers or Little Sisters. Bigs in our Site-Based program commit to meeting a child during school or an after-school program for one hour a week for the duration of at least one school year.

In the Community-Based program, children are between the ages of 7-14 when they come into our program and are primarily from single parent homes and have no significant behavior issues. Community-Based Bigs typically pick up a Little at his or her house and have outings in the community doing activities that both people enjoy doing.

In our Site-Based program, children are between first grade and middle school when matched, able to commit to a year of participation, and lack significant behavioral or emotional problems. Site-Based Bigs typically meet Littles during lunch or for a regular hour each week during an after-school program. The qualities we are looking for in our volunteers are maturity, stability, patience, consistency and reliability. Care is taken to match volunteers and children who share interests and seem compatible.